• commentary
  • SUNDAY OCTOBER 14 2007 3:00 PM

Just the Facts, Ma'am

Submitted by Bitch_PhD

Edited by Bitch_PhD

Tags: abortion, planned parenthood, birth control, reproductive health, health care, women's health



The two main posts linked below in all caps are not only worth reading, they're worth bookmarking, printing up on transfer paper, and ironing on t-shirts. Seriously.

CHECK IT:

A comprehensive global study of abortion has concluded that abortion rates are similar in countries where it is legal and those where it is not, suggesting that outlawing the procedure does little to deter women seeking it.


Duh.

Moreover, the researchers found that abortion was safe in countries where it was legal, but dangerous in countries where it was outlawed and performed clandestinely.


Honest to god, that right there should be the end of the fucking argument, people. Women abort pregnancies whether or not the Man "allows" them to, because women are in charge of pregnancies and we know if we can deal with another kid or not. Period. Either you believe that women who abort deserve to die, in which case you're "anti-abortion" (or "pro-life"wink, or you don't, in which case you're "pro-choice".

Let's rename those groups to reflect the facts. The antis can be the "pro dead women" camp and the pros can be the "pro adequate medical care" camp.

Extra bonus kicker:

The data also suggested that the best way to reduce abortion rates was not to make abortion illegal but to make contraception more widely available.


Again, duh. How does the "pro dead women" camp stack up on the question of contraception? Catholic Church--anti-contraception (hence, pro dead women). George Bush--anti-contraception = pro dead women. The National Right to Life--officially has no position on contraception but is anti-Planned Parenthood, anti-health-care reform and pro-criminalizing abortion = pro dead women. Feminists for Life--pro-criminalization, "no opinion" on birth control = pro dead women. Concerned Women for America--anti-birth control = pro dead women.

Try it. Google any so-called pro-life organization you want + "birth control" and find out if they support birth control or not. Is their anti-abortion prosition "prevent abortions" or is it "make abortions dangerous"?

And for extra bonus points, see what they have to say about Planned Parenthood, which does more to prevent abortion in this country than any other organnization.

Part two

As ONE MEDICAL STUDENT EXPLAINS, to his surprise.

fully ignorant of Planned Parenthood beforehand, I thought I’d be doing abortion evaluations. Planned Parenthood equals abortions. That was the extent of my knowledge.

I was so far, far off base it’s not even funny.* In fact, it may sound ironic, but I’m pretty confident when I say this: No matter what your feelings are about the subject, there would be more abortions performed in this country if Planned Parenthood didn’t exist.The patients I’ve seen have been, in general, young, healthy women, ages 12 to 26. . . .

They come in primarily for three things:

1. annual exams (pap smears, breast exams, etc.),
2. sexually-transmitted infection (STIs) diagnosis and treatment,
3. and birth control.


Read the whole thing--he puts to rest a lot of the cliches about who uses Planned Parenthood ("They are sexually active, almost always with one, monogamous partner, and they do not want to get pregnant."), whether or not women who use Planned Parenthood are "responsible" ("my patients are more informed about their health and medicines than me"), and whether they're the exception or the norm ("Over 90% of women of childbearing age use some sort of contraception method").

And yes, they also provide safe abortions. Because doing so is a necessary part of women's reproductive health care, one that saves lives.

Like I said, this shit deserves to be printed on t-shirts. Hell, shouted from the rooftops.

Bitch_PhD dismisses anyone who doesn't support Planned Parenthood as a woman-hating asshole, even if they're a woman themselves.

More statistics (including image source) here.

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Comments
CherryCoke

CherryCoke

Derry, NH
May 2007

OCT 14, 2007 03:11 PM

I've said it once, I'll say it again: I love Planned Parenthood.
Seriously. I don't even know what else to say.

PaulNikon

PaulNikon

Palm Bay, FL
February 2003

OCT 14, 2007 03:16 PM

"there would be more abortions performed in this country if Planned Parenthood didn't exist"

Tallboy66

Tallboy66

Chicago, IL
January 2005

OCT 14, 2007 03:32 PM

I thought we already discussed this in the whole Aurora PPC story?

Anyway, "Pro dead women" seems a little extreme just as doctors who perform abortions are "baby killers".
I know some abortions are necessary to save the womans life and C-sections may not be available, but in the case of Planned Parenthood the key is planning, even though birth control is not always 100% effective.

Kleio

Kleio

Winona, MN
January 2006

OCT 14, 2007 03:51 PM

Saraphine

Saraphine

SUICIDEGIRL

Pennsylvania, USA

OCT 14, 2007 03:58 PM

Without Planned Parenthood, I would have some pretty big problems I think-- seeing as how I didn't have health insurance from the age of 18 to 29, I kinda needed a place to see me affordably and immediately. I ♥ PP

Also, I love the pro-life = pro dead women name change. Everytime I see a pro- life bumper sticker on a car I want to pull them over and ask them WHY do they feel that way? I have never had the real chance to debate with a pro-lifer. I'm sure it would be as enlightening as talking to a racist, but still. Bitch_PhD needs to write a book or something

Tallboy66

Tallboy66

Chicago, IL
January 2005

OCT 14, 2007 04:09 PM



Everytime I see a pro- life bumper sticker on a car I want to pull them over and ask them WHY do they feel that way?



Me too. The thing that gets me are the ones who don't think that birth control should be used or sex ed taught in school.
They are the Ned Flanders of the world.

Saraphine

Saraphine

SUICIDEGIRL

Pennsylvania, USA

OCT 14, 2007 04:15 PM

Tallboy66 said:


Everytime I see a pro- life bumper sticker on a car I want to pull them over and ask them WHY do they feel that way?



Me too. The thing that gets me are the ones who don't think that birth control should be used or sex ed taught in school.
They are the Ned Flanders of the world.



Not only that, but it's 99% of the time some old ass white guy driving the car! What the hell do YOU know about being fucking pregnant with no options, dickface??

JoLeigh

JoLeigh

SUICIDEGIRL

Florida, USA

OCT 14, 2007 04:22 PM

PaulNikon said:
"there would be more abortions performed in this country if Planned Parenthood didn't exist"



yep yep yep
end of story right there

woweezowee

woweezowee

Denver, CO
November 2003

OCT 14, 2007 04:31 PM

people need to relax. everyone has their opinion. pro life has good reasons, pro choice has good reasons. both have negatives as well. it's what makes it such an interesting issue to discuss. but it's too bad people feel the need to be hateful about others who support the opposite side of the issue. that makes zero progress.

Clidna

Clidna

Canada
January 2005

OCT 14, 2007 04:32 PM

In all fairness, I don't think most pro-lifers are pro-dead-women-ers, I think they are anti-learning-about-anything-outside-their-admittedly-uninformed-point-of-view-ers (shut up, I made it up, ok?wink). If more people were more open to learning about the things they think they don't support, there would be more tolerance in the world.

Of course, that being said, there will always be boneheads who just can't admit when they are wrong. These people should just go live together on an island. We could film it and call it Survivor:Intolerance! It would probably be amusing to watch them hate on eachother.

Snafu013

snafu013

Deer Park, NY
June 2004

OCT 14, 2007 04:35 PM

im' usually not a big fan of the articles on this site, but i have to say, this was one of the best articles i've seen written anywhere.

Saraphine

Saraphine

SUICIDEGIRL

Pennsylvania, USA

OCT 14, 2007 04:36 PM

woweezowee said:
people need to relax. everyone has their opinion. pro life has good reasons, pro choice has good reasons. both have negatives as well. it's what makes it such an interesting issue to discuss. but it's too bad people feel the need to be hateful about others who support the opposite side of the issue. that makes zero progress.



I'm sorry, are you a pro-lifer actually talking about how wrong it is to be hateful to the opposite side?? I think the pro-life anti- abortion people who protest at places like Planned Parenthood invented the very word 'hate'! The minute it gets flung back, you get upset. Typical.

Arbiter_Morrison

Arbiter_Morrison

Abilene, TX
August 2007

OCT 14, 2007 04:41 PM

when will these pro-life = pro dead women bastards realize that they should shut the hell up and let people go along with their lifes as everyone else does

kerouaclullaby

kerouaclullaby

Philadelphia, PA
September 2006

OCT 14, 2007 04:41 PM

see whenever i am behind a pro-life bumper sticker i just feel like ramming into the back of their car. repeatedly. but i guess that probably wouldn't help the situation.

woweezowee

woweezowee

Denver, CO
November 2003

OCT 14, 2007 04:44 PM

nope, not a pro-lifer unless it comes to the idea that we shouldn't be killing people in other countries. i actually have a probably a different reason for being pro choice than the typical person. i just think that the earth is badly overpopulated and it is a great way to work on that without using other methods. i don't mind if anyone protests wherever they choose.....it's when things get violent that it concerns me. otherwise.......who cares? that's the point, people should be able to discuss the issue in a constructive way without getting hateful and insulting.

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